Agenda and minutes

It was reported that Councillor Paul Bates had replaced Councillor David Brown on the Committee.

To appoint a Chairman for the Shared Services Joint Committee

RESOLVED:

That Councillor JP Findlow be appointed as Chairman.

Councillor Findlow in the chair

Apologies were received from Councillors D Armstrong and L Gittins.

To provide an opportunity for Members and Officers to declare any disclosable pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests in any item on the agenda.

No declarations of interest were made.

The member of the public present did not wish to speak.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 19 May 2017.

Following a request at an earlier meeting, the Committee was briefed on the feasibility of webcasting or audio webcasting the meeting.  It was agreed that the Committee would not webcast or audio webcast the meetings due to the additional expense and room availability restrictions.

RESOLVED: That

1        the minutes of the meeting held on 19 May 2017 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman;

2        the Shared Services Joint Committee not be webcast or audio webcast.

To receive an update on the Archives Project

The Committee considered a report which provided an update on the Archives Project.

Reports had been taken to Cheshire East Council’s Cabinet and Cheshire West and Chester Council’s Cabinet meetings in September to allocate specific sites to the project as the planned history centres in Crewe and Chester.  The site of the ‘old library’ in Crewe and the site of the former Enterprise Centre in Hoole, Chester had been approved as the allocated sites.  Approval had also been given to establish a Project Board and a Portfolio Board and to establish a decision framework for the project in the context of the existing Shared Services Administrative Arrangements.  Both Councils had also approved the submission of a Round One external funding bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund in support of the proposal, as well as permission to receive and spend the grant if successful.

It was noted that the decision by Cheshire West and Chester’s Cabinet had been call-in and would be considered by their Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 9 October 2017.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the report be noted.

To receive an update on the ICT Shared Service and Transactional Service Agreements and a presentation from Ernst Young LLP on their findings on the optimum IT delivery model for the Councils.

The Committee considered a report on the progress with the ICT Shared Service and Transactional Service Agreements and received a presentation from Ernst Young LLP on their findings on the optimum IT delivery model for the Councils.

David Tidd from Ernst Young LLP was in attendance and presented the findings of the Phase 1 Review.  A number of factors had been identified which required change in how the ICT services were delivered – these being:

1.     strengthening client side commissioning in order to improve planning and enable both Council’s to identify opportunities to collaborate;

2.     adopting an operating model in which the ICT services delivered common Core Services and Infrastructure i.e. Support Desk and Network services;

3.     establishing ICT dedicated delivery capabilities for Cheshire West and Chester in support of Transformation priorities encompassing Digital solutions delivery and potentially, delivery of Service specific solutions;

4.     introducing Demand and Portfolio Management practices in order to prioritise and schedule work in the short to medium term;

5.     establishing of a programme of capability development within ICT Service

6.     critically evaluating and enhance governance in order to improve the potential for the Councils to collaborate in the future delivery of business solutions and ICT service.

RESOLVED:  That

1        the delay in finalising the Shared Services Agreements for ICT and Transactional Services be noted due to the need to incorporate the outcomes of the jointly commissioned independent review by Ernst Young LLP which will reflect the optimum IT delivery model;

2        the presentation by Ernst Young LLP be noted and, following receipt of the final Ernst Young report in mid-October, the Councils work collaboratively to agree governance to take forward the recommendations for the future of the ICT shared service (and any subsequent impact on the shared transactional service) to ensure the optimum ICT delivery model can be implemented;

3        it be noted that the shared services agreement dated 1 April 2016 continue to govern existing service provision until the revised agreements, including agreed service catalogue, specifications, performance management and revised payment arrangements are in place.

To receive an update on the progress being made in procuring and implementing a replacement HR and Finance system for the Councils and their partners

The Committee considered a report which provided an update on the progress being made in procuring and implementing a replacement HR and Finance system for the Council’s and their partners,

Both Councils’ Cabinets in July 2017 had approved the conditional award of the HR and Finance system contract to Agilisys. 

An Inter Authority Agreement, which set out the working arrangement between the two Councils, had been signed by both Councils. The Councils’ implementation team and key members of the Agilisys team were working together to begin the implementation to ensure that critical deadlines for delivering and signing off programme outputs and outcomes were met. 

RESOLVED:

That the Committee note and endorse the work of the Finance and HR System Replacement Programme (“Best4Business”) since the previous report to the Committee in March 2017 and the subsequent report to the Cabinet meetings of both Councils in July 2017.